4 hours agoAuthor: Efat Qureshi
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“My Karan Arjun will come……”
On hearing this dialogue, Rakhi Gulzar's face comes to mind. The beauty of the actress, who was counted among the most famous actresses of the 70s-80s, can be gauged from the fact that Yash Chopra wrote the 1976 blockbuster film Kabhie Kabhie after seeing her. The famous lyricist Sahir Ludhianvi took inspiration from Rakhi's personality to write the song of the film 'Kabhie Kabhie Mere Dil Mein Khayal Aata Hai…'. Sunil Dutt was such a fan of Rakhi's acting that whenever he got the opportunity to see Rakhi's performance, his eyes remained moist.
In a career spanning 40 years, Rakhi has worked in nearly 100 films, for which she has been honoured with 2 National Awards, 3 Filmfare Awards and Padma Shri.
Rakhi's life was full of ups and downs, sometimes she had to bear the pain of her husband Gulzar's infidelity in his second marriage, but Rakhi, who is firm on her principles, never accepted defeat. She says, 'I am firm on my will and self-respect, even if there is a financial crunch, but I will never do a film or work that I don't like.'
Today Rakhi Gulzar is 77 years old. Even at this age, she is living her life alone in the valleys away from the city and glitz. She says, 'Now I don't need money, I do my work myself and am living a happy life with animals.' There are many dogs, cows, snakes and birds in her farmhouse in Panvel, which she takes care of herself.
Today, on the special occasion of Rakhi Gulzar's birthday, know 6 selected stories related to her life-
15 August 1945
The whole country of India was celebrating independence after a long battle against the British. On the same day, early in the morning, Rakhi was born in a Bengali shoe business family in Ranaghat of Nadia district of Bengal. Her full name was Rakhi Majumdar. Her father had a well-established business in Ranaghat, however, after the partition, the situation worsened and the family settled in West Bengal.
Rakhi was just 17 years old when her father got her married to Bengali journalist and film director Ajay Biswas in 1963. Within a few years of marriage, it became difficult for Rakhi to adjust with her husband. This was the reason why at the age of just 18, she left her husband and decided to live life on her own.
Rakhi, who was very beautiful, used to get many film offers. So when responsibilities came upon her after divorce, she decided to enter films. At the age of 20, she signed her first Bengali film Bodhu Boron, which was released in the year 1967. With her first film itself, Rakhi made a special identity in Bengali cinema, after which she got her next film Baghini. Rakhi's acting was so attractive that even after doing a regional film, she caught the attention of Tarachand Barjatya, founder of Rajshri Productions. Tarachand Barjatya cast her in the Hindi film Jeevan Mrityu, in which her hero was Dharmendra.
This film released in 1970 proved to be a milestone for Rakhee. She started getting many big films like Subodh Mukherjee's film Sharmilee, Sunil Dutt's Reshma Aur Shera.
Rakhee was paired opposite Sunil Dutt in the film Reshma Aur Shera. In this film, she played the role of a widow. When Rakhee came on the set, Sunil Dutt did not show much interest in her, but as soon as the shooting began, everything changed. In the very first shot, the newly wedded bride Rakhee was to be informed of her widowhood. As soon as the camera started rolling, Rakhee broke her bangles and started wiping off the vermilion in an emotional manner. Rakhee's acting was so real that everyone present on the set became emotional.
Rakhee Gulzar in the film Reshma Aur Shera (1971).
Sunil Dutt told in an interview that he felt as if he was seeing a real accident. There were tears in his eyes.
Let us tell you that when Rakhee played the role of a widow in the beginning of her career, many people told her that she should not do this. This will have a bad effect on her career. However, Rakhee's principle was that she will definitely do those films in which she gets a chance to experiment, whether it is the role of a widow or the role of the mother of a hero older than her, Amitabh Bachchan.
By giving back to back hits, Rakhee had established herself as an actress in the 70s. Meanwhile, famous lyricist Gulzar sahab (Sampooran Singh Kalra) was fascinated by Rakhee's beauty. Despite being 11 years older than her, Gulzar sahab proposed marriage to Rakhee one day. Rakhee also agreed without thinking. Rakhee was at the peak of her career, in such a situation many people suggested her not to get married, however she did not listen to anyone.
It is said that Gulzar sahab had put a condition for marrying Rakhee. The condition was that after marriage, Rakhee would leave the film world and take care of the family. Rakhee believed that Gulzar sahab's heart would change someday. Finally, in 1973, Rakhee married Gulzar sahab and said goodbye to the film world.
Rakhi's decision to stay away from films after marriage started to bother her. Surrounded by glitz and crowd of admirers, it became difficult for Rakhi to spend time in household chores. She asked Gulzar sahab several times to make a film with her, but her request was turned down every time.
Yash Chopra, the famous filmmaker of that era, wrote the film Kabhi Kabhi keeping in mind Rakhee's beauty. However, by the time the script of the film was ready, Rakhee had got married and left the industry. Casting any other actress in her place was not acceptable to Yash Chopra. So he met Rakhee and offered the film to her. When Rakhee came to know that Sahir Ludhianvi had written the songs of the film after seeing her beauty, she too agreed to work in the film, but to do the film, Rakhee needed permission from her husband Gulzar.
Rakhee Gulzar in the film Kabhi Kabhie (1976).
According to a BBC report, at that time Gulzar sahab was shooting his directorial and writer film Aandhi in Kashmir. Rakhee was so excited about the film that she thought it better to go to Kashmir without wasting time. As soon as Rakhee reached Kashmir, she was overcome with grief. She saw that Gulzar sahab and the lead actress of the film Suchitra Sen were very close on the sets of the film Aandhi. Many things were brewing due to the closeness between the two. Rakhee expressed her displeasure on this issue and returned home. When Gulzar sahab returned after finishing the shooting, Rakhee had made up her mind to leave him. Rakhee left her husband's house with her daughter Meghna in 1974 and then accepted the offer of the film Kabhi Kabhi. Despite being separated from her husband, Rakhee never divorced him.
Yash Chopra wanted to sign Amitabh Bachchan and Shashi Kapoor along with Rakhee in the film Kabhie Kabhie. Rakhee agreed somehow, but when Amitabh came to know that he has to romance Rakhee on screen, he turned down the film. Actually, Amitabh Bachchan and Rakhee were close friends. Rakhee used to call him Lambu and Amitabh used to call her Didi. In such a situation, how could he romance Rakhee who considered him as Didi. When Rakhee came to know about this, she explained to him saying- we are artists, our real life is very different from our reel life. Amitabh Bachchan agreed after Rakhee explained.
After the film Kabhi Kabhie became a blockbuster, the pair of Rakhi-Amitabh also became a hit. Both of them appeared together in many films like Kasme Vaade, Trishul and Kala Patthar. However, the incident of their film Kasme Vaade is very famous, in which Rakhi accidentally slapped Amitabh on the set. Actually, as per the requirement of the scene, Rakhi had to slap Amitabh in one take, in response to which he threatened her.
As soon as the scene started and Amitabh came close to her, Rakhi slapped him for real without any hesitation. The slap was so strong that everyone present on the set was shocked. Amitabh could not say anything at that time as the shot was going on, but when he said the dialogue, everyone understood that he was actually threatening. After the shot was over, Rakhi explained to him that she was just giving the scene. Even on this, Amitabh jokingly threatened her and said that he would definitely take revenge for this.
Let us tell you that after contributing to Hindi cinema for 4 decades, Rakhi Gulzar now prefers to stay away from the limelight. She is claustrophobic, so she does not like to live in crowds or noise. So she is living her life in her farmhouse located in Panvel, a few kilometers away from Mumbai.
Photo of Rakhi Gulzar taken at Panvel Farmhouse Roots.
Rakhi does all her work in her farmhouse herself and does not like to meet people. According to the Quint report, Rakhi Gulzar's farmhouse is named Roots, where she has kept 9 dogs, 32 cows, many kinds of birds and snakes. When she was asked if she is not afraid of snakes, the actress replied – You people living in the city are afraid of snakes. If you do not harm it, then it will not bite.
Rakhi does farming in the farmhouse and takes up all the responsibilities herself, from bathing and washing all her pets to feeding them. Rakhi also does not like to depend on servants for work.
